UNITED NATIONS: A fleet of 30 research and exploration vessels from around the world was set to sail just off the French coastal city of Nice today to kick off the third United Nations Ocean Conference and pay tribute to World Oceans Day.

Thousands of delegates, including heads of state, scientists and environmental advocates, are expected in Nice this week to confront growing threats to the ocean and the need to transform pledges into protection.

RWANDA: The Rwandan government said today that it is pulling out of a central African regional bloc after a row over its involvement in the conflict taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rwanda was prevented from taking over the rotating presidency of the Economic Community of Central African States on Saturday at a meeting in Equatorial Guinea.

COLOMBIA: Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, a possible candidate in the country's presidential election next year, was shot and wounded at a campaign rally in Bogota on Saturday, authorities said.

His right-wing Democratic Centre party released a statement calling it “an unacceptable act of violence.”

The attack took place in a park in the Fontibon neighbourhood when armed assailants shot him from behind, said the Democratic Centre.

UNITED STATES: President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he is deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles over the objections of Governor Gavin Newsom after a second day of clashes between hundreds of protesters and federal immigration authorities in riot gear.

Confrontations broke out on Saturday near a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles.